CELESTIAL FLIPPER
The awe-inspiring Milky Way bears semblance to a celestial flipper, reaching out to a solitary penguin standing on a rocky outcrop in the Curio Bay Fossil Forest. With a declining population of less than 5000, the endangered Yellow-eyed Penguin is one of the world’s rarest penguins, and found only in New Zealand.
Protecting our night sky from light pollution is not simply for the sake of humans, but also for our wildlife. Although research of penguins’ orientation at night is still in its infancy, scientists believe that birds rely not only on magnetism but also the stars and celestial rotation.
A 16mm wide-angle composition to encompass both the penguin and the Milky Way required a very close proximity to the penguin, hence a very slow approach to keep the penguin calm. Another challenge was exposing the photo for a full 30-seconds to maximize the light from the stars, while crossing my fingers that this little penguin would keep still for that half a minute. And to avoid using flash, a headlamp was used to paint the foreground and penguin for approximately one second. Camera: 5dIII, ISO 4000.
#MilkyWay #penguin #wildlife www.keaphotography.org
— in New Zealand.The awe-inspiring Milky Way bears semblance to a celestial flipper, reaching out to a solitary penguin standing on a rocky outcrop in the Curio Bay Fossil Forest. With a declining population of less than 5000, the endangered Yellow-eyed Penguin is one of the world’s rarest penguins, and found only in New Zealand.
Protecting our night sky from light pollution is not simply for the sake of humans, but also for our wildlife. Although research of penguins’ orientation at night is still in its infancy, scientists believe that birds rely not only on magnetism but also the stars and celestial rotation.
A 16mm wide-angle composition to encompass both the penguin and the Milky Way required a very close proximity to the penguin, hence a very slow approach to keep the penguin calm. Another challenge was exposing the photo for a full 30-seconds to maximize the light from the stars, while crossing my fingers that this little penguin would keep still for that half a minute. And to avoid using flash, a headlamp was used to paint the foreground and penguin for approximately one second. Camera: 5dIII, ISO 4000.
#MilkyWay #penguin #wildlife www.keaphotography.org
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